We propose an exploratory study of mental patient rape and a legal analysis of institutional requirements to maintain a safe environment for patients. In order to develop a rounded picture of mental patient rape - the victim's experience, institutional practice and legal efforts to define a safe invironment - and to develop preliminary recommendations to reduce the incidence and trauma of rape on this vulnerable population, we plan to use a qualitative, grounded theory approach. We will complete up to 150 depth interviews with victims, institutional personnel and others associated with reported mental patient rapes; conduct field observations in four local in-patient facilities during evening and night shifts; develop incident profiles of five cases of mental patient rape which have been litigated or are in the process of litigation; and conduct a legal review of appellate decisions, cases, regulations and statutes governing directly, or by analogy, the concept of a "safe environment" for confined mental patients. Data will be analyzed and integrated while they are being collected and preliminary analyses will be presented to groups of informants and mental health professionals for discussion and validation. Possible institutional interventions and policy recommendations will be discussed during group sessions. The study will produce a qualitative, descriptive and analytical report on the experience and policy sensitive dimensions of menal patient rape.